The war is long over, yet the monopolistic concerns—revived against the decisions of the Potsdam Conference in the early 50s—continue to develop. Their activities are closely connected with neo-Nazi tendencies in West Germany. Legendary intelligence officer Stierlitz, now Professor Maksim Maksimovich Isaev, returns to Berlin after the sudden disappearance of his doctoral student, who had been researching the Nazi past of the owner of one of the concerns, in order to expose the criminals and bring to completion what has been started.